


"i love you" "promise?"

by ThatOneSmolFangirl



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Confessions, Happy Ending, I Love You, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, Merthur - Freeform, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Oblivious Merlin (Merlin), Pining Arthur, Pining Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Pining Merlin (Merlin), accidental confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:27:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22355608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneSmolFangirl/pseuds/ThatOneSmolFangirl
Summary: “Make sure you make it to that meeting on time, okay? I love you, I’ll try and make it back for lunch,” (aka accidental confessions of love)
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 33
Kudos: 682





	"i love you" "promise?"

**Author's Note:**

> it's been a really long time since i last wrote smth so go easy on me okay? but anyway merlin and arthur are my best boys so i hope yall enjoy!!! please leave me a comment if you do because it makes me v happy!!

“Rise and shine!” Merlin yanked the curtains to the side, flooding the dark bedroom with sunlight from the rising sun. As he turned around with a smile, he heard the familiar complaining sounding from the bed. It’d become comforting over time, to have a routine.

“Merlin, it’s too early for this,” Arthur hadn’t even left the bed, just pulled a pillow over his face in hopes to block the light from his face. Merlin started to tie the curtains up, glad he was a morning person, “You have things to do today sire,” Arthur let out a muffled sigh, moving the pillow off his face, “I hate when you call me that. Besides, I always have things to do, I’m a prince Merlin,” 

Muttering under his breath, Merlin stepped away from the window to start collecting some clothes for the day, “With all that moaning and groaning every morning, you could’ve fooled me,” 

“I heard that!” Arthur grabbed the pillow previously over his head, throwing it in an attempt to hit Merlin, who just ducked and let it hit the floor. He turned back to Arthur, cocking his head, “Shouldn’t the future king of Camelot be able to throw with at least some accuracy?” 

Another pillow flew by his head, and Merlin let out a laugh, “Thank god that the future of the kingdom doesn’t depend on your ability to get up in the morning. Or we’d all be in for a rather unpleasant surprise,” Arthur yielded, sitting up against the headboard and pouting slightly, “Whatever you say. What am I doing today that’s so important?” 

Stopping to think, Merlin sat on the end of the bed and stopped his search for clothes, “The last I heard was a meeting with the visiting princes, as well as training with the knights,” Arthur lifted a leg out from under the blanket, trying to kick Merlin in the back, “And will you be joining me on any of these endeavors? It would certainly make it more tolerable to know you were suffering through it as well,” 

Merlin shook his head, shoving Arthur’s foot away, “As tempting as that sounds, I have errands to run for Gaius, plus I’ve been meaning to reorganize my room. I’ll try to make it back for lunch if that counts for anything,”

Leaning back and letting his leg fall, Arthur crossed his arms, “I could just order you to come with me,” Merlin grinned, “You know that doesn’t work on me,” 

Suddenly curious, Merlin paused, trying to remember the last time Arthur had genuinely given him an order. And honestly, he couldn’t think of anything in the past two years. They just stopped needing that relationship. Smiling gently at the realization, Merlin looked over towards Arthur, who was staring out towards the window. The sun was on his face, making it look like he was glowing from the inside out. Or maybe that’s just what he looked like to Merlin. 

Shaking his head restlessly, Merlin pushed himself off the bed, grabbing two apples from the table. Tossing one towards Arthur, Merlin couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he heard the prince yelp in surprise as it hit his side.

Biting into the apple he had gotten for himself, Merlin walked to the side of the bed, tapping Arthur on the side of the head to stop him from dozing off, “I have to leave and see Gaius okay? Your clothes are on the end of the bed, but you really do need to get up, okay?” Arthur nodded slowly, swatting at Merlin’s hands as Merlin tried to pull the blanket off him. 

Merlin surrendered, leaning down to grab his bag and turning back to Arthur before he left, “Make sure you make it to that meeting on time, okay? I love you, I’ll try and make it back for lunch,” Tiredly, Arthur moved so he was facing him, waving subtly, “Love you too, tell Gaius I say hello, will you? And pick me up some new belts if you have time” Nodding, Merlin pulled on his shoes, closing the door behind him. There was a nagging feeling in his head that something was different but he couldn’t quite place what it was.

Shrugging it off, he continued down the stairs. He spent some time at home, attempting to clean his disaster of a room, as well as making some simple medicines and balms for Gaius. Eventually, he finished everything he needed to do at home and piled his laundry into a basket, insistent on taking only one trip. 

As he walked to the stairs, the nagging feeling returned. Like he should be reacting to something. Maybe he’d forgotten to tell Arthur something he needed to do. That would make sense. Approaching the stairs, Merlin started to try and recite the conversation in his head. He’d told Arthur about the meeting, then the knights, gave him an apple, and then- 

Oh. 

Before he even realized what he was doing, the laundry basket slipped from his grasp as Merlin’s hands loosened. It fell down the stairwell, leaving clothes scattered everywhere and frightening a couple of the children running around. Merlin didn’t even notice, too focused on leaning against the wall for stability. He didn’t even realize he was frozen in place until Gwen tapped him cautiously on the shoulder. He spun around, taking in her concerned expression as she pulled her hand back quickly, “Is everything alright Merlin? You seem-” She seemed to be thinking off a word, “-you seem off,” 

He nodded quickly, plastering a smile on his face, “Nope,” Merlin froze, realizing what he said and attempting to backtrack into an adequate answer, “Yes! I meant yes. I’m fine. Everything’s fine,” Gwen didn’t say anything in response, so Merlin just pushed forward, “Have you seen Arthur recently?” She nodded slowly, pointing down the stairs, “I think he’s with the knights, training. Are you sure everything’s alright?” Already halfway down the stairs, Merlin just nodded, “I’m good, just need to find Arthur,” 

\----------

Arthur had spent approximately twenty minutes after Merlin left trying to get out of bed and find the things he needed. He eventually managed to get himself ready and immediately proceeded to skip the ‘important’ meeting in favor of heading straight to the knights. Leon had asked to practice hand-to-hand combat, which Arthur readily agreed to, hoping it would wake him up. The other knights worked on sword fighting as him and Leon threw punches and tried to get the occasional blow on the others’ side.

Arthur had done this style of fighting for long enough that he let his thoughts drift slightly as they fought, replaying the conversation from that morning to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything. Besides the meeting of course, but he skipped that on purpose. As he replayed the scenario in his head, Arthur’s chest suddenly tightened as a certain phrase resurfaced in his memory. There’s no way he did that. He didn’t say-

Before he could finish thinking, Leon’s fist connected with the side of his face, snapping him back into reality. Stumbling from the impact, Arthur stepped back quickly, trying to regain his balance. Leon immediately reached out to grab his arm, panic etched on his face, “I’m sorry sire, I thought you would _duck_ ,” 

Arthur blinked quickly to clear his eyes, gesturing Leon away, “Never apologize for winning a fair fight,” Leon nodded slowly, cautiously letting go of Arthur’s arm as the prince attempted to stabilize himself, “I didn’t mean to attack you whilst you were distracted,” Arthur waved dismissively, before remembering exactly why he was so distracted in the first place. Freezing where he was, Arthur bit his lip, forcing himself to think.

Seeming to have suddenly made his decision, Arthur stood up straight, pointing towards Leon “You’re in charge. I need to-to go,” Before anyone could even respond, Arthur had turned towards the castle, walking quickly over the piles of swords and armor. Leon called from behind him, “Go where sire?” Arthur didn’t bother to turn around, just shouted over his shoulder, “I have to find Merlin!”

Ironically, Merlin was doing the same thing. Walking as quick as he could without drawing attention to himself, he was headed towards the field. Arthur saw Merlin first, waiting until Merlin met his eyes to nod to the side, grinning. Arthur darted to the side, and Merlin was quick to follow, accidentally bumping in to at least three other people before managing to catch up. The two slipped behind a cart into a deserted alleyway, trying to stifle their laughs in case someone came to find them. Arthur was the prince so it wouldn’t exactly matter but there was something fun about it. They met each others eyes, and both fell silent, looking away. 

Merlin was the first to speak, opening his mouth nervously, “About this morning-,” His voice broke slightly and he took a breath before continuing, “I’m so sorry. I don’t want you to think that I feel that way about you because I- I don’t. It was a complete accident and I promise I didn’t mean it,” Cocking his head slightly, Arthur crossed his arms, “Really?”

And that was all it took. 

Merlin’s face fell as he shifted nervously in place, “No. I meant it,” Arthur uncrossed his arms, looking away and trying to keep his face neutral, “Me too.”

“Really?”

“Yes,”

Sighing in audible relief, Merlin grinned. Arthur looked up at him and did the same, letting out a short laugh at the absurdity of it all. 

Merlin laughed as well, before looking up to meet his eyes. He grew quiet,

“I love you,” 

“I love you too Merlin,”

A half smile appeared on Merlin’s face, “Promise?” Arthur rolled his eyes but nodded, “I promise,” 

And that was that.


End file.
